


Small Casualties

by abbyli, Hollyspacey



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Darcy is present during Civil War, F/M, Gen, On Hiatus, de-aged fic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-26
Updated: 2016-06-15
Packaged: 2018-07-10 09:40:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,060
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6978154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbyli/pseuds/abbyli, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hollyspacey/pseuds/Hollyspacey
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When one of Wanda's spells goes awry it leaves Steve and Tony as grumpy toddlers still trying to kill each other and complete strangers Darcy and Bucky forced to play parents while they wait for Wanda to figure out how to reverse her spell.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Co written fic with me and the incredible HollySpacey.

[based on this artwork](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/386324474267286860/)

polyvore: [ [darcy](http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=199229141) ] 

 

There was a flash, then another, then another, like a bunch of fireworks going off between Steve and Tony. Darcy started towards them, a scream lodged in her throat as the red light hit both men repeatedly, getting brighter with each successive hit. Something about the moment was drawing the attention of everyone.

Wanda was looking on in faint horror as her spell bounced between the two men. Rhodey put away his blaster and drifted down to stand near Tony. Clint and Natasha both paused mid-hit to watch. Even T’Challa stopped trying to kill Bucky long enough to try to figure out what was going on.

Suddenly, there was a shower of bright red sparks that caused everyone to turn their heads away. When Darcy opened her eyes, she felt her mouth drop. Where moments before there had stood Iron Man and Captain America, there was now two tiny toddlers, rolling around on the ground, fighting as fiercely as they could in their little bodies.

This was the exact moment in time that Darcy realized her life had completely gotten away from her. She immediately connected the dots that Tony and Steve had been turned into little kids and were still duking it out. At the same moment she started forward to break them up, Bucky rushed over. They each picked up one of the squirming toddlers, Darcy holding Iron Man Jr., and Bucky holding baby Captain America.

For such little things, they were still very strong, and Darcy could feel Tony pulling out of her arms. “Umm, Friday? Can you get him out of this suit, please?”

A little girl’s voice echoed back to her from the suit’s speaker, “Yes, Miss Darcy.”

The metal retracted from around Tony’s face and body and folded itself neatly down into a tiny metal block. “Hey! You took my suit! Give it back, now!”

“Don’t yell at her!” screamed Steve, which brought Tony’s ire back to him. They started swinging at each other again, Bucky looking at Darcy with a distinct sense of panic etched across his face.

“Gimme my shield, Bucky!” Steve yelled, making grabby hands towards the ground where it had fallen in the melee.

Bucky recovered from his shock and pulled Steve back more. “I don’t think that’s gonna work out for you right now, punk. S’bigger than you are.”

A quick look around showed that Darcy was still surrounded by stunned superheroes. This was exactly what she had been trying to prevent. Well, not exactly, because seeing two of her friends turned into children was not a thing that had ever crossed her mind as a possibility. But she had known that there would be consequences with all of their fighting. They should have been working together to come to an agreement, not scrapping in a parking lot like a bunch of teenagers. Darcy looked around, meeting the eyes of each person standing there.

“This fight is OVER,” she said, in a voice that was clear that she expected no arguments.

Reaching down to grab the tiny Iron Man suit cube,  she shoved it in Rhodey’s hands as she passed him, and carried the struggling Tony towards the quinjet. Bucky grabbed Steve’s shield, tucked Steve away in his other arm, and followed behind her. He caught up with Darcy, and little Steve was glaring at Tony and trying to wiggle closer. Darcy stopped and held up a finger in his face. “No sir. Did you not hear me? This fight is over.”

Little Tony grinned smugly at Steve and stuck out his tongue, and she gave him a stern look, “That means you, too. If you two can’t behave, you’ll be put in time out.”

Darcy met Bucky’s eyes and shrugged helplessly. She wasn’t sure what they were going to do, she’d simply let instinct from all of those years spent babysitting neighborhood kids take over.

Steve looked around disgustedly. “This isn’t fair! I was already tiny once, I wanna be big again. I don’t like it!”

“I can’t say I’m a fan of it either,” Bucky mumbled under his breath.

They reached the quinjet and climbed aboard. Darcy took Tony to one side of the jet and buckled Tony in, Bucky doing the same with Steve on the other side. After struggling to tighten the straps around the unhappy toddler, Darcy stood and nodded. “It’ll have to do.”

She met Bucky’s eyes from across the jet and they reconvened up front near the cockpit. The kids had already started yelling at each other again, and the jet filled with the sound of small, angry voices.

“You’re just a big meanie!”

“You’re the meanie! You never listen to me!”

“You were mean to my Bucky and my Wanda! They are my friends!”

“I was not mean to Wanda! Take it back!”

Darcy looked at Bucky with widened eyes. “What are we going to do with them?”

He just shrugged helplessly, “Hell if I know.”

Darcy moved to sit in the cockpit, looking at the controls. “Friday? Can you get us back to the Avengers Facility, please?

The same little girl’s voice answered cheerfully, “Sure, Miss Darcy.”

Bucky grimaced, “Should we be concerned about a kid piloting us back to the States?”

Darcy did not know how to answer, but thankfully Friday piped up, “Mr. Barnes, I may sound like a child, but I am still a fully functioning A.I. Mr. Stark made sure that I have backup coding, and the only thing affected by Ms. Maximoff’s spell was the voice modulator.”

Darcy arched an eyebrow at Bucky. “Well, that solves one problem, I guess.”

The helicarrier lifted and Darcy peeked down at everyone still standing on the runway. They were all gathered around, in deep conversation. “I don’t think this was what Wanda intended, but at least they’ve stopped beating each other up.”

Bucky joined her, looking down. “How are they gonna get back?”

“Tony had another quinjet waiting. Riding together will do them some good.”

.

  
One hour, two full-out, kicking, screaming tantrums, and three trips to the toilet later, they arrived at the Avengers facility.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> thank you all for the amazing response to the first chapter! here we bounce back in time to darcy and bucky’s first meeting. enjoy and sorry for the delay!

_5 hours earlier_

_._  
.

“Clint should be here soon.”

“Are you sure you can trust the guy he’s bringing?” Bucky asks.

Steve shakes his head. “I don’t know the guy. Sam does,” he adds, nodding towards the other man perched against the front of the Volkswagen. “You said he was friendly?”

“Yeah,” Sam says, glaring a hole into the cement that they stand on. _“Friendly.”_

Steve doesn’t have time to question that because at that moment, a loud screeching alerts all of them. Sam is the only one that doesn’t startle. A large white van appears, whipping around a corner and coming to a sudden stop next to the Volkswagen. Clint hops out of the driver’s seat, followed by Wanda in the passenger side.

“Hey Barton,” Steve greets. “Did you --”

Clint holds up a hand to stop him. “Cap, we have a little bit more company than I thought we would.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sam asks.

Clint pulls open the side door on the van and Scott Lang comes tumbling out, followed by a curvy brunette dressed in jeans and a plain leather jacket.

Steve sucks in a breath at the sight of the woman, teeth gnawing on his bottom lip. “Darcy.”

“Hey fellas,” she greets. Her eyes fall on him. “We need to talk.”

“Why the hell are you here, Lewis?” asks Sam, coming over to stand beside Steve. “Shouldn’t you be catering to Stark’s every want and need?”

“That’s why I’m here, Birdbrain,” Darcy snaps. “God, now there’s two of you. Listen, I’m here to offer an olive branch.”

“Not happening unless it comes from Stark himself,” Sam growls.

“Sam,” Steve mutters warningly. He glances over his shoulder at Bucky, relieved to find him still on the other side of the Volks, eyeing Darcy like she was a viper than just came tumbling out of the den. “Go ahead,” he adds, gesturing to the brunette.

The younger woman plows on. “This is stupid. All of this is ridiculous. I am not saying I agree with the accords, Jane and I are not on any official side but we do work for Stark and --”

“You work for him?” Bucky’s voice is raspy from disuse.

Darcy’s eyes narrow as they rest on the long haired man. “Yes, hobo man, I do. Thanks for catching up.” She looks back at Steve. “We may work for him but Jane’s staying out of it. And I --”

“You’re butting in,” Steve interrupts. He ignores the guilt at the flash of hurt in the brunette’s eyes. “Sorry Darcy, I know you mean well but you should not be here. Go back to the tower where you will be safe. This is gonna get nasty.”

“It doesn’t have to, Steve.”

“What do you want me to do, sign the accords?”

“Yes! _No!_ I really don’t know,” Darcy says weakly. “Just get out of it.”

“Darcy, you don’t even know what those accords say --”

“Yes I do!” The younger woman interrupts. “Jane and I read them.”

Silence on all ends.

Sam breaks it. “You’re shitting me.”

She violently shakes her head. “No I’m not. Jane asked for a copy of them when Tony came to talk to us. She said it was the only way he would get her to consider taking a side. We read them. Took us about two weeks to get through that book but we did.”

“What did you think?” Steve asks softly.

Her eyes dart back and forth between him and Bucky before she takes in a trembling breath. “I understand them,” she says. “But I don’t like it.”

“Darcy --”

“No Steve, I am not going to take a side in this.”

“Then why are you here?!” Steve snaps.

The brunette throws up her hands in exasperation. “Did all those years in the ice freeze your brain!?” she growls. There’s a noise from behind Steve and he turns to see Bucky glaring at the young woman. He raises his fingers when the other man furiously opens his mouth to retort. “I’m here for Jane. I don’t want her to be forced to get involved. I’m here because these accords are shit and they need to go away and I think the only way they will is if you and Tony get your heads out of your asses and just talk to each other. I will mediate. I can be a good therapist.”

Sam coughs loudly and Darcy throws him a nasty look.

“This isn’t funny.”

“And we’re not laughing, doll,” Bucky says. “You should probably leave.”

“No!” Darcy takes another step towards Steve. “Not until you tell me you are going to talk this through with Tony.”

“I tried,” Steve’s voice drops an octave and he heaves in a breath. “I’m sorry, Darcy.”

Casting a helpless glance between them, Darcy sighs and reaches into her coat. She pulls out a thick booklet and tosses it at Steve. He catches it cleanly with one hand against his chest. “That’s Jane's plan,” she says as she turns to leave. “Give that a read before you go charging out to fight.”

Once Darcy’s gone, the sounds of her boots clacking against the concrete, Steve flips the booklet over.

“What is it?” Wanda asks.

Bucky comes out from behind the car to look over Steve’s shoulder. His eyes take in the chicken scratch handwriting and he swallows. “The real accords,” he says.

Steve flips open the cover and begins to read, letting out a small noise of surprise. “This is all Dr. Foster’s doing. She --”

“She what? Come on buddy, don’t leave us out of the loop here,” Sam says.

Sighing, Steve shuts the book and tosses it into the van. “It doesn’t matter. It’s too late. Come on, we’ve got to get ready.”

Bucky follows Steve back to the other side of the volkswagon with Sam, his thoughts still on the pretty brunette.

-;

“I knew it. I knew he wouldn’t read the book or just ignore it and here I am about to get blown up in an airport hanger!”

“A sign of mental instability, talking to your own head.”

“Shut up Friday.”

“You’re lucky the boss doesn’t know you’re here, Ms. Lewis. He’d have you on a jet so fast --”

“Oh yeah?! I’d like to see him try it.”

The AI is laughing at her and it’s only getting Darcy more and more pissed off. What was she thinking? Why the heck did she even bother to try and knock some sense into their fool heads? She ought to call down Thor to --

_“Darcy!”_

“Uh oh.”

Slowly inching around to face the voice of fury -- we’re talking adjective here, not the big guy with the eyepatch -- Darcy keeps her head bowed to avoid Tony’s eye.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” he nearly shouts and Darcy winces. She braves a look and holy shit she has never seen Tony so angry in all of her life. He’s literally shaking with rage.

All right, stand your ground against the grumpy man of metal, Darcy. You can do it. She opens her mouth to retort and Tony continues to yell at her, his words coming out so quickly that she only catches a few here and there. Something like ‘irresponsible behavior’ and ‘why do I have to do to get you to grow up’ and -- hey wait a minute! She’s not twelve years old. She’s damn tired of people talking to her like she is and --

Through the large bay window, Darcy sees a shine of red fly by.

“What the hell is that?!” she barks, interrupting Tony in mid-tirade. She stomps over to the window to follow the blur of red, which turns into the form of a person. A boy. “Is that that spider kid?!” she shrieks, turning around on Tony. “Are you serious?! And you yell at me for being here!”

“I --” Tony’s voice cuts off, raising one armored finger before his mouth snaps shut and he grunts in frustration. “Darcy, you need to leave.”

“I am not leaving!”

“This is gonna get brutal and that witch is out there and she could blow this whole place up. I don’t want you to get hurt!”

“Her name is Wanda and -- and I know that,” Darcy says, letting out her own sigh. “I’ll stay here and any sign of it getting bad I will get out but listen to me -- you saw the plan that Jane came up with -- why won’t you --”

“Because it’s too late!” Tony growls before he jams his helmet back onto his head. “Stay out of the way,” he responds gruffly before he takes off from the landing and flies out to the compound to join his teammates.

Darcy watches through the window as Tony touches down, joining his line of people. Her eyes dart to the other side of the lot and she sees Steve with the Barnes fellow and the others. Sam swoops in and lands on the other side of Clint, the two groups taking each other in like cowboys at a shootout.

“Friday, tell me the truth. Is this going to end well?”

“Not looking that way,” the AI answers. “Gotta go.” The voice disappears, leaving Darcy alone in the hanger.

With bated breath, Darcy watches as the fight begins. Both sides are running at each other, Tony’s zooming at Steve -- the panther is already kicking Barnes in the face and --

There is a sudden beam of red light, flying from Wanda’s fingers and hitting Tony’s armor before reverberating back at Steve. The light bounces back and forth between the two men, taking them both in. The fight stills as the light overwhelms them all and suddenly, there is a tiny Iron Man and a mini Captain America rolling around on the ground, still punching and biting and kicking each other like nothing had happened.

“Holy shit.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Any feedback would be appreciated!


	3. Chapter 3

[ Present Day ]

Once they arrived at the facility, Darcy placed Steve on one end of the couch and Tony on the either, hesitated, and then dragged Bucky to sit between them. “I need you guys to chill for a moment, please. I am going to get Jane and see if she knows what to do. Friday? Can we turn on the tv? Something age-appropriate, I guess?”

“Of course, Miss Darcy,” Friday said, turning on a bright and loud cartoon that immediately had the children entranced.

Darcy paused before leaving the room, and Bucky spoke, “I got this, go.” She shot him a small grateful smile and left for Jane’s lab.

It was a good day, and it only took a few minutes for Darcy to convince Jane that yes, this was a real emergency, not just an excuse to get her out of the lab. But Jane did have her doubts of what constituted a real Darcy Emergency and kept stopping every few minutes refusing to move until she told her what was happening. Darcy just kept nudging Jane along in the hallway. “Really, Darcy. I don’t know what is up with all of the secrecy. Just tell me what is going on.”

“It will probably be easier to just show you,” Darcy said, pulling her into the common room.

Jane stopped in her tracks. “Darcy? Are those children? Is that Bucky Barnes?!”

“Yes, Jane. A+ observational skills. Bucky, this is Jane. Jane, this is Bucky. Now the children, do they look familiar to you at all?”

Jane studied them a little more closely. “Umm, maybe. Who are they? Where did they come from? Did you steal children?”

Tony stood up on the couch and pointed his finger at Jane. “You know who I am, Foster!”

Jane paled. “Tony? But…who…how?”

Darcy put her arm around Jane. “Well, that’s why we called you, boss lady. One of Wanda’s spells went a little wonky and then, this. By the way, say hey to Steve,” she said, pointing to the other boy sitting calmly on the other end of the couch.

“Hello, Dr. Foster,” he said politely.

There was a commotion outside as the other quinjet landed and everyone funneled into the common room. Darcy stepped in front of them, stopping them as they entered. “Did everyone work out their problems?”

They all nodded sheepishly.

“So I can expect you all to get along and work together to figure this thing out?”

Another round of nods.

“Alright, great,” she said, stepping aside to allow them inside.

They moved as a group, slowly and nervously, as they watched the two boys still sitting on the couch. Wanda pushed to the front of the group and gasped. “I didn’t mean for this to happen. I just wanted the fighting to stop.”

Darcy linked her arm with the other woman’s. “We know, Wan. It’s ok. Jane is here and I know the two of you are going to get it figured out.”

She nodded shakily and the two of them stood over to the side, throwing out ideas to one another.

Sam was standing at the edge of the group watching the two boys. When he caught Darcy watching him, he stepped closer to her. “You really think we can fix this?”

“Yeah. I do. Wanda made it happen once, I’m sure she can reverse it. She just has to figure out what she did.”

Sam shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded, clearing his throat. “Listen, Darcy, I’m sorry about what I said back in the parking garage.”

“Yeah, I know. Emotions were high, you thought I was the enemy, I get it.”

“Still. I was an asshole.”

Darcy grinned. “Yes, you were an asshole.”

Sam chuckled. “You’re not gonna let me off easy, are you?”

“Absolutely not. And I’m going to scream at both of them too, once they are potty trained,” Darcy joked. “Seriously though, I forgive you. Like I said, emotions were high.”

Sam nodded and gave her a fond look. “Come here,” he said, drawing her into a tight hug.

Darcy sighed, Sam hugs were always the best.

*****

Darcy went over and kneeled down in front of the two boys, who had blessedly forgotten that they were supposed to be fighting and seemed to be getting along. They’d been distracted by the tv for awhile, but all of the adults chattering nervously in the room had gotten their full attention.

Bucky was standing at Darcy’s side and gave her an encouraging nod. “Ok guys, so here’s what is going on. We’re going to fix this, make you big again, I promise. Jane and Wanda are over there right now trying to figure something out.”

She gave them what she hoped was a calm smile. “Thing is, we really don’t know what we’re dealing with here, so I need you guys to be patient with us, ok?”

The boys looked at each other, perhaps for the first time realizing that things were really, really not ok. Steve nodded, the bravest look possible on his little face. “We will be good, I promise.”

Darcy smiled and reached out to ruffle his hair. “Thank you, Steve.”

Tony spoke, “Are you going to take care of us?”

“Of course we are. You two are our friends.”

He nodded, satisfied, and turned his attention back to the tv. Darcy and Bucky went back over to the group that was still standing nervously to the side. Hushed conversation erupted, everyone trying to figure out what they were going to do.

The plan was made that since Darcy was good with kids, and that she’d gotten them to behave, that she would be in charge of them. Friday promised to get two children’s beds delivered to her quarters for that night, as well as an assortment of clothing in the appropriate sizes. Bucky volunteered to help her, he didn’t want to leave Steve, and considering how long he and Steve had been apart, no one argued.

Suddenly, Darcy felt a tug on the bottom of her shirt and looked down into Steve’s blue eyes. “Darcy, can I get something to eat? I’m hungry,” he said, just before his stomach let out a loud growl.

“Oh! Yeah, of course. Come on, Steve. Tony, are you hungry?”

The other boy nodded eagerly and the three of them went into the kitchen, Bucky once again following behind. Darcy made peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and poured two small glasses of milk, setting them in front of the two boys. Bucky came to stand beside her as she watched them eat. “You’re good with them.”

Darcy arched an eyebrow as she looked at him. “I’m sorry, was that a compliment? I seem to remember you shooting daggers at me with your eyes not too long ago.”

Bucky sighed and shook his head. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just, you said you worked with Stark and I didn’t know why you were there.”

Darcy nodded. “I’m sorry, too. It was just a yucky situation.” She paused, “I’m glad you’re back. They spent a lot of time looking for you.”

“I know. Wasn’t ready to come back.”

Darcy took a sip of her drink, thinking. “Are you ready now?”

Bucky shrugged. “Not really. Kind of got caught in the middle of this.” He gave a fond smile towards the boy sitting at the counter happily eating his sandwich. “If I’d have known I would have had to take care of that little punk again, I maybe would have run a little faster.”

*****  
Supper went smoothly, everyone gathered in the main dining room. They ate their food and got along, there was even a little laughter. Not a word was spoken of the accords or the fighting, save the moment Jane said to Darcy in a not-so-hushed voice, “Did you show them the accords we drew up?”

Darcy just nodded and rolled her eyes. And she pretended not to notice when Jane set the New and Improved Accords on the countertop for all to see.

Even the boys were relatively calm. It almost made her want to forgive them for all the drama they’d caused. Almost.

After dinner was bathtime, which went better than expected. Better being that the facility was still standing. Little Tony started screaming that he didn’t want Darcy seeing him naked. Didn’t want Bucky to, either, which meant they had to call in Rhodey to help out.

Darcy was certain that a part of adult Tony was still inside him, planning the whole thing and taking pride in being so difficult. That was ok, Darcy made sure that Friday got a good shot of his tiny little butt covered in bubbles. She would figure out the details of how she would torture him with it once he was an adult again.

“Ok, bedtime for little superheroes!”

“No, c’mon, Darcy. Let us stay up a little longer,” Tony whined, looking so adorable in his tiny Iron Man pajamas that Friday had had delivered.

Bucky smirked at her. “Maybe you should read them a bedtime story.”

“Yes! Please, Darcy. Pleeeease,” Steve begged, Tony nodding excitedly behind him.

“Fine. I hate you,” Darcy said to Bucky as she went to her room to grab a book.

She returned and settled on the couch, pulling the boys up to cuddle with her.

“No, I want Bucky here, too,” said Steve. Bucky sighed and came to sit beside Darcy, Steve nuzzled against him, and Tony under Darcy’s other arm.

Darcy threw her biggest, fluffiest blanket over them all and started to read, “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much…”

*****

Darcy woke to the sound of screaming. It was coming from her spare room and she threw back the covers and jumped out of bed. She skidded around the corner to see Steve sitting up, eyes wide, and Tony in his bed, screaming, tears streaming down his face. “Tony, what’s wrong?”

The little boy tried talking, but all that came out were even louder wails. Darcy sat on the edge of his bed and gave him a hug, murmuring softly to him. She heard movement behind her and turned to see Bucky in the doorway. “Friday let me in, she said something was happening. What’s wrong?”

Darcy looked at him helplessly, “I think he had a nightmare.”

Bucky crossed the room. “Move. Let me.”

Darcy extracted herself from Tony and stepped away from the bed, watching as Bucky picked up the crying toddler. He held Tony tightly in his arms, rubbing his back and talking softly to him. Darcy climbed into bed with Steve and they watched as Tony began to calm.

The wails turned to quiet cries and then to painful little whimpers, Tony still clinging tightly to Bucky. “S’ok, Tony. You’re alright.”

The little boy let out a few hiccups and nuzzled into Bucky’s neck. “You wanna talk about it?”

Tony shook his head. “No. It was scary.”

“I know, I know. We’re here, though. You got us. Nothin’s gonna hurt you.”

“But there was a monster and stars and I was up in space and no one saved me,” Tony said tearfully.

Bucky hummed softly, hand still rubbing reassuringly at Tony’s small back. “I know. But it was just a nightmare. It’s all over now, you’re safe.”

Steve spoke up, “We’re gonna protect you, Tony. You’re our friend.”

Tony glared at him. “You were fightin’ me yesterday. You wouldn’t listen to me. I only wanted to help!”

“You were bein’ mean to everybody! You put Bucky in a cage!”

Darcy shushed Steve and pulled him into her lap, looking up to Bucky who came to sit on the bed, still holding Tony. “Ok, guys. Yesterday was bad, right?”

The two boys nodded and Darcy continued, “Nobody wanted it to get to that point, I know that. You two are friends, though. Everyone should have sat down and discussed things and then maybe we wouldn’t be here now. But we got a second chance. We can fix this. You two can be friends again and we can all figure out rationally what to do about the accords. And I know you two are frustrated right now, but we are gonna fix you up as soon as we can.”

She rubbed away the track of tears on Tony’s face. “We are not ever going to let something like that happen to you, Tony. Big or little, you’re ours and we love you. So I expect both of you to get along. We have to stick with each other.”

Tony nodded softly and sniffled. “Ok. It was still scary, though.”

*****

Once the boys were settled, soft snores coming from each of them, Darcy and Bucky left the room and convened in the kitchen. “You want some tea?”

Bucky nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

The room was silent as Darcy moved about the kitchen. Minutes later, Darcy pushed a steaming mug across the counter to Bucky. Darcy leaned back against the counter and took a small sip of her drink. “Thank you for that. Really, I don’t know that I could have calmed him down like that.”

Bucky shrugged. “I had a little sister, used to get nightmares all the time. And when Stevie was little, well little the first time, he had some bad ones. Then his asthma would start acting up and I was always sure that he was gonna die. His Ma would come in and do that, hold him real tight and talk him down.”

“She sounds like she was a great lady. He talks about her sometimes.”

“She was. Sarah. Loved her like my own ma,” Bucky said softly.

“It can’t be easy. I know how hard it was for Steve to adjust to his new life. I can’t imagine how you did it, without any help.”

Bucky shrugged. “Just did it, I guess. Needed to know who I was. Needed to know who Steve was. ‘Course there’s some stuff I kinda wish I didn’t remember.”

Darcy didn’t have words for him. Nothing she could say could ease the undeniable pain in Bucky’s eyes. She just slid her hand across the counter and placed it on top of his, ignoring the slight flinch until he relaxed under her touch.


End file.
